The invention relates to a method for transferring a tube in a tube filling machine between a staging location and a set-down location, as well as a transfer device, in particular, to perform the method.
In a tube filling machine, empty or filled tubes have to be transferred at multiple locations. For example, empty tubes, which are staged in a so-called endless row, each have to be individually inserted into a tube holder by passing through various working stations of the tube filling machine. The filled and sealed tube must subsequently be removed from the tube holder and placed on a conveyor device, with which it is conveyed to further work stations, for example, of a downstream carton packaging machine.
The insertion of an empty tube into a tube holder is described below by way of example. The tubes are conveyed in an endless row in an orientation that is transverse with respect to the direction of motion. The 1st tube of the series reaches a staging location, which is formed by a shell-like receptacle. The tube slips, in particular, due to its own weight, into the receptacle, where it is secured. The receptacle containing the tube then swivels from a horizontal orientation into a vertical orientation, wherein the tube is clamped against a surface of a set-down location. In this vertical orientation, the tube is located above a tube holder into which it is then pushed or pressed from above. As soon as the tube is released, the shell-like receptacle swivels back into its horizontal orientation at the staging location, after which the next tube enters the shell-like receptacle.
A disadvantage of this design is that the device is relatively slow because the shell-like receptacle is occupied for a relatively long time by the tube to be inserted and the next tube can only enter the staging location when the shell-like receptacle has swiveled back to the staging location and entered its pick-up position. Furthermore, a special structure must prevent the tube of the endless row from advancing to the staging location when the shell-like receptacle is not at that location. A blocking device is needed for this, which must be enabled only when the controller has ascertained that the shell-like receptacle is located in its required position at the staging location. Such a structure is expensive and prone to malfunction.
The object of the invention is to provide a method for transferring a tube in a tube filling machine, with which the tubes can be transferred between the staging location and the set-down location in a rapid and simple manner. Furthermore, a transfer device is to be provided with which the method can be performed in a simple manner.